Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction to the Cambridge University Press Edition
- Introduction to the Original ArXiv.org Posting
- Disclaimers
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Letters to David Baker
- 2 Letters to Howard Baker
- 3 Letters to Howard Barnum
- 4 Letters to Paul Benioff
- 5 Letters to Charlie Bennett
- 6 Letters to Herb Bernstein
- 7 Letters to Doug Bilodeau
- 8 Letters to Gilles Brassard
- 9 Letters to Jeffrey Bub
- 10 Letters to Carlton Caves
- 11 Letters to Greg Comer
- 12 Letters to Charles Enz
- 13 Letters to Henry Folse
- 14 Letters to Bob Griffiths
- 15 Letters to Adrian Kent
- 16 Letters to Rolf Landauer
- 17 Letters to Hideo Mabuchi
- 18 Letters to David Mermin
- 19 Letters to David Meyer
- 20 Letters to Jeff Nicholson
- 21 Letters to Michael Nielsen
- 22 Letters to Asher Peres
- 23 Diary of a Carefully Worded Paper: More Letters to Asher Peres
- 24 Letters to John Preskill
- 25 Letters to Joseph Renes
- 26 Letters to Mary Beth Ruskai
- 27 Letters to Rüdiger Schack
- 28 Letters to Robert Schumann
- 29 Letters to Abner Shimony
- 30 Letters to Jon Waskan
- 31 Letters to Bill Wootters
- 32 Letters to Anton Zeilinger
- 33 Other Letters
- Postpartum
- Index of Names
23 - Diary of a Carefully Worded Paper: More Letters to Asher Peres
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 October 2012
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Foreword
- Introduction to the Cambridge University Press Edition
- Introduction to the Original ArXiv.org Posting
- Disclaimers
- Acknowledgements
- 1 Letters to David Baker
- 2 Letters to Howard Baker
- 3 Letters to Howard Barnum
- 4 Letters to Paul Benioff
- 5 Letters to Charlie Bennett
- 6 Letters to Herb Bernstein
- 7 Letters to Doug Bilodeau
- 8 Letters to Gilles Brassard
- 9 Letters to Jeffrey Bub
- 10 Letters to Carlton Caves
- 11 Letters to Greg Comer
- 12 Letters to Charles Enz
- 13 Letters to Henry Folse
- 14 Letters to Bob Griffiths
- 15 Letters to Adrian Kent
- 16 Letters to Rolf Landauer
- 17 Letters to Hideo Mabuchi
- 18 Letters to David Mermin
- 19 Letters to David Meyer
- 20 Letters to Jeff Nicholson
- 21 Letters to Michael Nielsen
- 22 Letters to Asher Peres
- 23 Diary of a Carefully Worded Paper: More Letters to Asher Peres
- 24 Letters to John Preskill
- 25 Letters to Joseph Renes
- 26 Letters to Mary Beth Ruskai
- 27 Letters to Rüdiger Schack
- 28 Letters to Robert Schumann
- 29 Letters to Abner Shimony
- 30 Letters to Jon Waskan
- 31 Letters to Bill Wootters
- 32 Letters to Anton Zeilinger
- 33 Other Letters
- Postpartum
- Index of Names
Summary
“Partners in crime again?”
CAF to AP 29 September 1999Introduction
Irving John Good once titled a paper, “46,656 Varieties of Bayesians.” With little stretch of the imagination, one can believe that a similar paper on the interpretations of quantum mechanics exists somewhere out there too. And that may be true even though 46,656 is greater than the whole membership of the American Physical Society! It is no wonder that taking a stand on quantum foundations is treacherous business. Nevertheless, in the March 2000 issue of Physics Today, Asher Peres and I flouted the usual rewards of a calm life and did just that. Our article was titled, “Quantum Theory Needs No ‘Interpretation’.”
This chapter is about the evolution of that article and a later “reply to critics.” When I was an undergraduate at the University of Texas, Bryce DeWitt made a great impression on me by saying something I have not forgotten: “We learn mathematics so that we don't have to think when we do physics.” My paper with Asher contained no mathematics. We had to think, and think very hard. The fruits of that labor, for my part, were in a greatly enhanced keenness for seeing through various foundational issues. How I wanted to share that newfound keenness with the reader! But it was difficult, if not impossible, to convey such an aspect of the paper-writing process in the very paper itself.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- Coming of Age With Quantum InformationNotes on a Paulian Idea, pp. 326 - 394Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2011